Paramount Pictures is planning to co-produce parts of “Transformers 4” in China at the same time that it has tweaked its coming “World War Z” in order to not offend the world’s second largest movie market.

Viacom Inc.’s Paramount said Tuesday that it has signed a cooperation agreement with the state-owned China Movie Channel and video-on-demand service Jiaflix, headed by veteran Hollywood producer Sid Ganis.

The deal calls for China Movie Channel to support production of “Transformers 4” in China, including the selection of filming sites, casting of local actors, and promotion.

Parts of the movie, which begins productionin two months, will be shot in China and are likely to be set there, said two people close to the production. It is scheduled to be released in June of 2014.

A statement from Paramount said the arrangement had the blessing ofTong Gang, vice minister of the State Administration of Radio Film and Television. According to the statement, Mr. Tong discussed the deal with “Transformers” director Michael Bay, producer Lorenzo DiBonaventura, Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore, and Jiaflix executives including Ganis.

Paramount

Brad Pitt in “World War Z.”

His public support indicates that people at high levels in the Communist government look favorably upon the deal. It is also the first time that China Movie Channel, the nation’s largest film broadcaster, has worked with a Western studio on a production.

However, the deal does not necessarily mean that “Transformers 4” will be granted official co-production status. That designation, which gives a movie a greater share of box office revenue than those imported under the state quota system, is typically only granted after a film is complete and viewed by government officials.

Jiaflix is making a “meaningful investment” into the production budget of “Transformers 4″ on top of its work to arrange the partnership, said the firm’s president Marc Ganis. In exchange it will receive a share of the movie’s profits.

Past “Transformers” movies have been very popular in China. 2011’s “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” grossed about $145 million there, more than in any other country but the U.S.

The partnership is the latest sign that studios are aggressively seeking to work with Chinese officials in order to make more money in the country, which surpassed Japan last year to become the planet’s biggest source of box office dollars outside the U.S.

Walt Disney Co.’s Marvel Studios worked with local Chinese firm DMG to shoot parts of “Iron Man 3” there and include local actors and plot elements. However, the companies ultimately nixed plans to apply for co-production status.

Seeking to avoid offending government censors in China, Paramount recently adjusted a plot point in its upcoming Brad Pitt thriller “World War Z,” excising a reference to the nation as a possible source of a zombie outbreak, according to a person with knowledge of the change.

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